75-year-old missionary shot in Congo returns home to N.I

Northern Ireland missionary Maud Kells has just returned home from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is said to be healing well after being shot twice during an attack by bandits in January.

The 75-year-old from Cookstown, is recovering well after making the long journey home over three flights from DR Congo to Kuala Lumpur and via London back to Belfast on Sunday. She was accompanied by two friends who flew out to Kuala Lumpur to meet her.

Maud has served in DR Congo since 1968 and worked first as a nurse, then began to train Congolese nurses in a number of hospitals and health centres. She also took bible classes in her free time.

Rev Ivor Smith, who is a member of Maud’s church, Molesworth Presbyterian Church and a personal friend of her’s said he was pleasantly surprised to see her in such good form.

Rev Smith said: “She is very glad to be home and we in the church are also very glad to see her back. She is grateful to God that her life was spared in the attack.”

Although Maud is not staying at her own home she is taking time to recover with her family.

“She has no plans as yet to return to the DR Congo as she is concentrating on her recovery as a matter of priority.”

Mid-Ulster Ulster Unionist MLA, Sandra Overend, said: “The shocking news that Maud Kells had been shot and wounded at her home in Congo in early January was a bolt from the blue for her family and many friends at home. It came just days after it had been announced that Maud had been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for her years of missionary work in Africa.

“The outpouring of support to Maud and her family from across Mid-Ulster and indeed right across Northern Ireland over recent weeks demonstrates the high esteem that she is held in, and the great respect and admiration for her many years of work as a nurse and missionary. I am sure that I speak for so many when I say that I am delighted that she has returned home safely.

“When hearing Maud speak, you cannot fail to be struck by her unshakeable faith and overwhelming positivity, and I know that these qualities will help her as she continues her recovery. I wish her a swift return to full health.”